The Sorrow of War Essay -- Literary Analysis, Bao Ninh

It can be hard to fully comprehend the effects the Vietnam War had on not just the veterans, but the nation as a whole. The violent battles and acts of war became all too common during the long years of the conflict. The war warped the soldiers and civilians characters and desensitized their mentalities to the cruelty seen on the battlefield. Bao Ninh and Tim O’Brien, both veterans of the war, narrate their experiences of the war and use the loss of love as a metaphor for the detrimental effects of the years of fighting. Bao Ninh’s novel The Sorrow of War tells a very realistic and explicit story of Kien, a North Vietnamese soldier and writer, during the Vietnam War. Kien manages to survive, usually by luck, through battles and situations in which survival seems futile. When Kien’s entire platoon is killed in battle, he is one of the few to survive. This seems to be a blessing and a curse as Kien had â€Å"perhaps watched more killings and seen more corpses than any other contemporary writer† (Ninh, 89). As one can imagine, Kien is haunted daily by gruesome hallucinations and memories from the battlefield. Kien begins to write about his war experiences, which turns into an obsession. He claims it is obligated as his duty to write about the war, and yet â€Å"seems to write only to rid himself of his devils† (Ninh, 49). His motivation is to â€Å"expose the realities of war and the tear aside conventional images† (Ninh, 50). It is not just Kien whose life is destroyed by the war. Kien tells of a driver Vuong who, before the war, drank very little and was kind a timid. Vuong disappears for many months and when he returns his life has collapsed. â€Å"I’ve given up driving, fellas. Now alcohol drives me,† Voung states (Ninh, 152). Kien tou... ...hard times together and we reunited multiple times. Cross and Martha, however, were distant apart for the duration of the war. Cross’s deep love for Martha stemmed from his obsessive longing to be with her and to be loved back by her. Cross eventually concedes that Martha belongs to another world and would never love him (Obrien, 17). The two novels use love as a strong metaphor for the losses of war. Ninh often explicitly states that both Kien and every other solider would be forever warped due to the senseless cruelties witness in the long conflict. Kien’s deep love for Phuong is destroyed by the war, as is Lieutenant Cross’s love for Martha. This paralleled metaphor speaks for both sides of the war and the suffering endured by all involved. The tragic loss of love and innocence illustrates the destruction the Vietnam War had on both veterans and society.

Bread & Roses Essay

â€Å"It is bread we fight for, but we fight for roses too. † This quote, originally in a poem written by a man named James Oppenheim, embraced a fierce social movement created by large number distraught textile workers who eventually created what we now know as the â€Å"Bread & Roses Strike†. This strike proudly showed the lengths one working under such unruly conditions would go in order to achieve respect, better working conditions, and enough food to feed their families. The book, â€Å"Bread and Roses†, written by Bruce Watson, is a novel concerning textile workers living in Lawrence, Massachusetts in the year 1912. Potential workers flocked to the city of Lawrence to better their lives, many of which soon realized posters and advertisements beckoning them to join in and share the city’s wealth did not prove to be as true as they claimed. Bruce Watson illustrates the working conditions of textile workers during this time period and proves as a reminder that during times of struggle, you gain your rights. Effective January 1, 1912, a new law was passed reducing the numbers of hours one could work. The workers wouldn’t have had a problem with this reduction if there was no cut in pay, but there was. That seemingly small pay cut, for multiple families, proved to become a financial splinter in their lives as they struggled day after day to keep food and warmth circulating throughout their already-small homes.

Nonverbal Communication in Blake Edwards Film Victor...

Non-verbal communication in Victor Victoria Blake Edwards 1982 motion picture Victor Victoria puts across complex ideas regarding societys perception of people and peoples tendency to receive social acceptance by reinventing themselves. One of the most intriguing aspects about this film is that it does not hesitate to put across frank and positive feelings with regard to homosexuality. Considering that individuals in the 80s considered this to be a taboo subject, it is actually surprising that the film portrays unconventional behavior as something that is not actually as evil as the world perceives it to be. Even with the fact that the film is largely verbal, one is likely to be impressed as a result of interpreting many non-verbal gestures and grimaces and observing how they actually play an important role in defining the way that each of the characters thinks and behaves. Gender is a particularly important concept when considering human interactions and communication in general. One is likely to observe how Richard and Toddy attempt to put across their thinking through the way that they look at each other in the beginning of the motion picture. It is obvious that Richard is an arrogant person and that Toddy reluctantly expresses interest in him as a result of his general condition. Toddy further confirms his personality as being warm as he visits Chez Lui and kisses the maintenance ladys hand. Toddy and Labisse contrast each-other as they hear Victoria sing asShow MoreRelatedStephen P. Robbins Timothy A. Judge (2011) Organizational Behaviour 15th Edition New Jersey: Prentice Hall393164 Words   |  1573 PagesPersonality and Values 131 Perception and Individual Decision Making 165 Motivation Concepts 201 Motivation: From Concepts to Applications 239 3 The Group 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Foundations of Group Behavior 271 Understanding Work Teams 307 Communication 335 Leadership 367 Power and Politics 411 Conflict and Negotiation 445 Foundations of Organization Structure 479 v vi BRIEF CONTENTS 4 The Organization System 16 Organizational Culture 511 17 Human Resource Policies and Practices